Abuse within foster families systemic, hurts

In July 1996, two 9-year-old twin sisters and their
7-year-old brother were removed from the abusive home of their biological
mother and placed in foster care.

Making the decision to remove a child from a family is
among the most complicated, controversial and difficult choices that the
government can make. Under Washington state law, child-welfare workers can file
a “dependency” petition when a child is being abused or neglected; the children
are removed and the circumstances investigated. Usually, the problems in the
home are addressed and the children return. The goal is to keep families
together.

In extreme cases, the child may be placed with a guardian
or foster family; in the rarest instances, a biological parent’s rights will be
terminated and the child can be adopted.

Unsurprisingly, the process is often controversial and
greeted with resistance, particularly in the most rural reaches of the state.
Edith Vance, the same social worker charged with helping the three children in
1996, was attacked in 2005 by a father wielding a machete during a child
welfare check.

In the earlier case, the children were removed from the
rural Stevens County home of their biological mother following years of
concerns over abuse and neglect. They were placed in the newly licensed
Chewelah foster home of Michael and Sylvia Wenger. The Wengers had a spotty
record; they were licensed in December 1995 and given the care of a toddler.
Within just a few months, though, the child was removed when state workers
learned that Sylvia Wenger had made “material omissions” in her application to
be a foster mother – including failing to detail the criminal and violent
activities of herself and her family.

The children’s social worker recommended the Wengers not
be licensed as foster parents. A supervisor overruled that recommendation, and
soon thereafter, the twin sisters and their brother were moved into the
couple’s care. In January 1997, a 15-month-old boy was also placed with the
Wengers.

What happened to the four children in the Wenger home
became simply an extension – a deepening – of the horrors they’d already
endured. The children say in court records that they were regularly struck with
boards, wooden spoons, belts and other objects. They say they were forced to
stand in a corner for hours, locked into closets and force-fed for punishment.
They were home-schooled and had little contact with the outside world.

And Michael Wenger molested the girls. Beginning when his
wife was pregnant with their first biological child in 1997, he molested the
twin girls regularly.

The three older children say they told Vance, the social
worker, about the abuse repeatedly – on several specific occasions, according
to their lawsuit, in 1997 and 1998. The biological mother of the youngest child
says she reported suspicions that her son was being sexually abused in the
Wenger home to state officials in 1997.

Vance has flatly denied being told of the abuse. In a
sworn statement to the court, Vance details several reports and interviews she
had with the family, as well as consultations with a therapist who treated the
kids: “At no time” did they tell her they were being abused or neglected, she
said. “To the contrary, by all indications available to me, the children
thrived in the Wenger home.”

In 1998, the Wengers, with the assistance and approval of
the Department of Social and Health Services, adopted the children.

The abuse went on for five years, the children say. In
2001, one of the girls ran away. She fled to a former foster house and told
them what was happening. CPS removed her from the house and opened an
investigation. While the monthlong investigation proceeded, the three other
children remained in the Wenger home, where the abuse allegedly continued.

The kids were finally removed and placed into other
foster families. Michael Wenger was convicted of child molestation and served
seven years in prison; he is now listed as a level 2 sex offender.

The children filed a lawsuit against the state, Vance and
others in 2011. The twin girls are now 25; one lives in Spokane County and one
in Pierce County. Their brother is 23 and living in Snohomish County. The
youngest child is 17.

All of them suffer dramatic, long-term effects from the
abuse, according to psychological evaluations, ranging from depression to
anxiety to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. One is described as
“chronically suicidal.” One doctor said that the youngest child’s extreme
inability to control his sexual impulses – the likely result of being
sexualized at an early age – as well as other severe problems with social interaction
make it unlikely that he will ever live independently as an adult.

The crux of the lawsuit – and the state’s liability –
rested on the decision made in 1995 to license the Wengers. It is easy to view
such decisions in hindsight as much simpler and more clear-cut than they really
are.

And yet it is hard to picture how the Wengers presented a
close call as potential foster parents, from the origins of their relationship
– 21-year-old Michael dating 14-year-old Sylvia – to Sylvia Wenger’s dishonesty
on her application to the issues raised in her psychological evaluation. You
might be reluctant to hire someone like that to manage the till at a concession
stand.

The weakness of the state’s position on this question was
exemplified by a document state attorneys filed early in the case.

Referring to the psychologist’s report on Sylvia Wenger,
they wrote, “The evaluation provided a less-than-flattering depiction of Ms.
Wenger, but the involved psychologist opined in relevant part that ‘Many people
who provide good and adequate parenting and foster parenting show personality
difficulties even more serious than those found in Sylvia Wenger.’”

Unsurprisingly, the state did not dedicate itself to this
argument. It settled the case for $5.3 million Oct. 1.

In announcing the settlement, the DSHS pointed to a long
list of improvements it has made in the licensing and oversight of foster
families.

These include an expanded, more rigorous process of
background checks and evaluating applicants, as well as more frequent visits by
social workers once children are placed in homes. At each stage, more people
are involved in the decision-making.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Allen Ressler, said he’s not
sure whether all the problems apparent in this case have been sufficiently
addressed. He continues to take on cases with some frequency from people
alleging abuse and neglect in the foster care system.

Want to change your country for the better? Want to help out a foster kid? Talk about what you read here today. Start a conversation on foster care. Words are powerful. We are a nation of fundamentally good and decent people and if the average American was aware of what is going on in foster care in their name and with their money, they would not stand for it. So start a conversation. Don’t wait for the other guy to do it. There is no other guy, only you, you’re the other guy

We are a grass roots, completely non-profit volunteer organization. The sole mission of our foster care blogs is to raise the national level of attention on foster care and foster children, to advocate for positive change and workable solutions in the system. We aim to make America aware of the ordeals faced by foster children within the system and aged out of the system. We are most concerned with educational stability, educational achievement, permanency and the unique needs of transition-aged children. We use media tools to influence and improve public policy and opinion on the issue of foster care, to promote successful solutions and to identify lapses within the foster care system and to encourage positive change.